A. Field of the Invention
Concepts described herein relate generally to detecting error conditions in data networks, and more particularly, to identifying mode and port mismatch conditions between network devices handing data frames.
B. Description of Related Art
As innovations continue to increase the rate at which data is capable of being transmitted across data networks, the need to transition between network infrastructure having various capabilities can be problematic. For example, although some network elements may be capable of carrying network traffic at speeds approaching 40 gigabits per second, not all elements in the network may be capable of such speeds. Accordingly, it may be necessary to transition between various speeds as required to traverse the network from a source to a destination.
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) are standards that define data transmissions over fiber optics. The SONET standard was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), while SDH was developed by International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT, now the International Telecommunication Union—Telecommunication Standard Section (ITU-T) to encompass SONET and provide for synchronization between standards. For the purposes of simplicity, SONET/SDH may simply be referred to collectively as SONET.
The SONET standard defines a number of distinct data rates for different levels of service. A typical SONET network can carry from about 52 megabits per second (Mops) up to about 10 gigabits per second (gbps) over a single optical fiber. Recent advancements in SONET technology, however, have enabled transmission or line rates of about 40 gbps.
Accordingly, to support the increased line rates of the newer technology, it may be necessary to utilize lower line rate media in a typical network by reframing or converting the higher speed data into a lower speed format. Problematically, successfully transmitting data following such a conversion requires that the receiving network device be properly configured to identify and receive the converted data.
There is a need in the art to accurately monitor and identify error conditions resulting from data stream rate conversions.